Multiple needle tufting machine



Nov. 30, .1943- J. c.-coBBLE :s1-Al.a 2,335,487

, MULTIPLE NEEDLE TUFTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 24, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1IN VENTUP( A rToRNEr Nov. 30, 1943. J. c. cQBBLE P :TAL

MULTIPLE NEEDLE TUFTING MACHINE v-Filed Jan. 24, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet '5IN VEN TOR Joe. C. Cobble Geo. B. Musk- BY A TTOR N E Nov. 30, 1943. J.c. coBBLE ETAL MULTIPLE NEEDLE TUFTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledJan. 24, 1941.

INVENTUR le Geo B Muse Joe C. Cobb BY a ATToRNEY Patented Nov. 30, 1943MULTIPLE NEEDLE TUFTING MACHINE Joe C. Cobble, Chattanooga, Tenn., andGeorge B.

Muse, Sugar Valley, Ga.

Application January 24, 1941, Serial No. 375,716

Z Claims.

Our invention relates to tufting machines and more particularly totufting machines for simultaneously forming a series of tufted rows ofstitches in a fabric or backing.

Heretofore in making tufted bed spreads, rugs, and mats wherein a greatmany parallel lines are employed to set in the background, after whichflowers or other designs may be superimposed upon them, it has been thepractice to form these parallel lines by a series of operations of asingle or double needle machine progressively traversing or scanning thebacking until the desired surface is covered. These many operationsgreatly increase the time required to make the article and consequentlythe resulting cost of production. Furthermore, the distance between therows of stitches varies over a widerange according to the judgment ofthe operator and uniformity is accordingly diilicult or impossible toattain.

It is true that some efforts have been made to provide a multiple needletufting machine to accomplish these purposes. However, the number ofneedles possible in those cases was limited by the load the needle barwas able to take and was further limited by the fact that no effectivefeeding means had been developed to serve more than a few needles, andno means had been provided for keeping the cloth spread out taut whilebeing severing ldevices acting in synchronism and actuated from a singleshaft for catching the loops in the successive rows to clip them andform tufts.

Applicants have as a still further object of their invention theprovision of a multiple needle machine which automatically andcontinuously feeds long sections of cloth therethrough and forms tuftstherein.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will appear in thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings andthe novel featuresthereof will be particularly pointed out in the. 'annexed claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a front elevation of our improved machine.Fig. 2 is an elevation of one end of the same machine. Fig. 3 is adetail of the worky feed mechanism for progressively moving the fabricthrough our machine. Fig. 4 is a fragmental elevation of the oppositeend of said machine. Fig. 5 is a fragmental cross sectional view takenalong line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail te the drawings showing the preferred embodiment ofour invention I 4 and 2, 3y designate the spaced standards comprisingthe ends ofthe frame of our improved machine bridged at their lower endsby bases Il), I0 formed from oppositely 'disposed angle irons providingsockets between them for reception of the lower fedvto the machine inorder to insure vthat the lines of tufts would be uniformly spaced andto keep the cloth from becoming clogged up and torn in the machine. Itwill be apparent, of course, that such a problem is not serious insingle or double needle machines for the operator can keep the clothspread out taut with her hands over the small area being sewed.

Applicants with a knowledge of all these defects in and objections tcthe prior art have-for an object of their invention the provision of amultiple needle tufting machine which is capable of forming the entirebackground of parallel lines in a single operation.

Applicants have as another object of their invention the provision of amultiple needle tufting machine having a feed mechanism forprogressively passing a whole section of cloth through the machine andforming tufts in it.

Applicants havel as `another object of their invention the provision ofa plural needle tufting machine having a mechanism for spreading asection of cloth as it is fed to the machine for tufting.

Applicants have as a further object of their invention the provisionof aplural needle tufting machine having a plurality of loop holding andends of standards 2, 3 and 6,'4. 'Joining the upper 1 ends of standardsI, 4 and 2, 3 are angle irons H8, IIB. Bridging the end s of the frameadjalcent their upper extremities are front and rear frame members 6, 'Iof angular configuration which rest upon the .angle irons H8, [I8 attheir ends. l

ries of spaced bearings 26, 26 carried by angles H8, IIB, I2I, IZI,bridging the front and rear frame 6, 1, and extending longitudinally ofthe frame and on beyond its ends is a drive shaft 24 having a pulley 22mounted thereon for coaction with a plurality of V belts 2l (in thepresent case three) for transmitting power from a source of power I9through pulley 20 and shaft 25 to the drive shaft 24.

The source of power I9 may either be an A. C.' or D. C. motor ofpreferably other than the'A. C. synchronous type. The motor is supported'on a plate IIB through bolts |20 carried by one or more supports I8 ofangular conflguri'ttiony joined 4 to standards 2, 3 preferably adjacenttheir upper ends.

Mounted on the drive shaft 24 at intervals are a. series of spacedeccentrics 3|, 3l. Carried by Mounted on the frame and supported in aseeach of 'these eccentrics 3I is a needle bar` actuating rod 32 beingjoined to the eccentric through a split bearing which encircles theouter surface thereof and includes a strap portion 30 joined to the rodthrough conventional studs.

Mounted on the end of drive shaft 24 near pulley T22 is a wheel 23 toturn it by hand. Mounted on the drive shaft 24 on the other side ofpulley 22 is an eccentric 29 carrying a rod 21 mounted similarly to rods32 heretofore described. This rod is joined through a rocker arm54 tosupplemental shaft 55. Mounted on the outer face of arm 5d throughscrews 84, I 64, carried by it and coasting with recesses formed in theends thereof is a strap I62.

Mounted adjacent the opposite end of shaft 2.1i`

is a pulley H55 for transmitting power through a belt lill to pulley 488which rotates shaft 48. Mounted on the end of shaft 24 adjacent pulley66 is an eccentric 29 which carries rod 28 through a bearing and strap38 identical to those heretofore described. The opposite end of rod 28forms'a bearing for'rotatably mounting pivot pin 51 which may be rigidlysecured .in adjusted position in' slot 59 by a.v screw thread and nutconnection or otherwise to rocker arm 58 mounted on supplemental shaft55 by means of set screws 66.

Bridging standards 3, 4 and I, 2 intermediate their ends and securedthereto are work support members 8, 9 of an angular configurationoverlapped by a throat plate 44 extending-along the entire length of thesupport members, and having needle slots therein.

Positioned beneath the work support is the supplemental shaft 55 mountedin end bracket bearings 6I having ears vforresting upon the uppersurface of transverse supports I1, I1 forming part of the frame andbridging standards 2, 3 and I, 4 and joined to them. The brackets 6I, 6Ibeing secured to the supports I1, I1 by studs 62 passing through thebrackets and screw threaded into the supports. I Mounted in spacedrelation along the supplemental shaft 55 are' a series of llocpers, thelowerl ends of whose arms are divided into yopposite clamping portions82, 83 joined throughstuds.V

84 'which freely pass through `strap portion' Vl` and Iscrew thread intoportion 82 for rigidly clamping the looper about supplemental shaft55.

The looper arm is comprised of adjustable inem--l bers 82,1'1;`theportion 82 having a longitudinalv groove 8| extending upwardlytherealongv fforl reception of a longitudinal rib formed on the inner`face of portion 11.` The upper portion 11 having aflongitudinal slotformed therein to' permitlthe free passage of screw 19, which threadsinto the lower portion 82, to lock the upper portion 11in adjustedposition, thereby permitting the looper. to bemoved with respect to thework support to vary the length of the nap of the tufts, and for otherpurposes. To the upper end of upper member 11 is secured a vhook 15 ofhardened steel through screws 16 (one of the screws being omitted forclarity) which pass4 through openings in the hook portion andcoact withscrewy threaded openings intheuppermember 11. The hook 15 isof hardenedmetal, has a shoulder adjacent its free fend to prevent removal pf theloops and l cutting edgefxtending rearwardly therefrom to coact withabutting edge von' the cutter. 'Ihe hook 15Ais yaccordingly removable,andreplaceabla Exedrfls rearwardly from.' the' yupper part .0f theupper'member 11 is a' portion having an opening therethrough for thereception of a pivot bolt assurer 1I for pivotally supporting a cutterhaving a forwardly exten ding arm terminating in a socket for thereception of a blade 12 having an enlarged slanting upper cutting edgefor coaction with the cutting edge of the hook 15. The blade 12 isadjustably mounted in the socket by means of the slot 13 in the cutterarm and the screw 14 passing freely therethrough and seating in a screwthreaded opening in blade 12. Upon loosening the screw 14 the blade maybe moved up and down into adjusted position, since the slot I3 permitsfree movement of the screw 'I therein. The cutter also has a dependingportion 18 joined to a link 61, through a pivot screw 69 carried by thelower depending portion.

Depending from the lower surface of member 8 at intervals therealong aresupports 63 and bridging the supports 63, B3 extending along the -lengthof the machine and secured thereto is a block 64 for mounting a seriesof spaced slidably adjustable fingers 65 by means of screws 6B pass ingthrough slots in these ngers, and. their ends are joined to links 61 byscrews 68. ,The free ends of the fingers are turned downwardly forgripping to facilitate adjustment of the fingers when the screws 56 areloosened.

Tensioning the cutter against the looper is a spring loop having one endseated in a recess in the cutter and the other end seated' in a recessin the looper.

Positioned above the work support or bed plate and in spaced relation toeach other are a series of needle bars 35, 35 carried by a channelmember 5 bridging the rear standards 3, 4 of the frame and carried bythem. Spaced brackets 36, y36, one above the other, bolted on member 5,by bolts 31, serve as bearings for each needle bar 35 and permit itsreciprocation therein. The upper end of each needle bar 35 is joined toa cor# responding rod 32 by a pivot pin having a shank II2 which actsvas a pivot and a shoulder II3 on its outer end-which serves as anabutment, the end of the shank II 2 terminates in a split socket 33 withportions adapted to be clamped about' the needle bar by means of aclamping bolt 34. The oppositefendl of the needle bar 35 is joined to avneedle yblock 'which bridges the various 'needie bars andvhaslongitudinal bores formed centrally therein providing a socket beneatheach needle bar-to receive ya needle 40 and having a set screw"`-;39seated transversely therein for clamping each needle 40 in its socket.To one side or in front of each needle socket is a second longitudinalbore 38 to permit the free passage of thread therethrough.

Suspended from channel member 5 by means of a plurality of spaced straps42, 42 is a presser foot 4I having a'plurality of spaced openings topermit the, free and ready passage of needles 40 therethrough. Eachstrap 42 has a slot therein `for reception of a mounting screw 43 forseating the channel member 5 in order to permit relative movement of thestrap upon loosening of the screw 43, the walls of the slot beingmovable on the bolt 43.

lMounted on and projecting rearwardly from the lower flange of channelmember 5 are a series of supporting' brackets 90 v'joined theretothrough ,studs-|80 and terminating 'at their free ends 1n bearings orother appropriate means for xedly supporting bar 91.

Mounted on bar 91 in spaced relation are a series'ofrings 98 disposedabout the bar and locked thereto by set screws 99. Each' of the rings 98carries a spring nger 89, preferably one to each needle, whichterminates in a curved end for frictional rubbing engagement with theperiphery of a disk 8S having angularly projecting teeth.

Mounted on the rear projections of the transverse supports Il areupstanding bearings 81, Bi joined to the supports Il through studs 38,88. Rotatably mounted in these bearings is feed shaft 8e. .ilreelyrotatable on shaft 85 is arm SI carlying a pawl 94 pivoted thereon at 92and pressed by spring d3, extending about the pivot, 92 and seated inthe arm 9i with the free end 'thereof pressing upon the upper edge ofthe nger 94, into engagement with the teeth of a ratchet wheel Q alsomounted on shaft 85. The arm di, intermediate its ends, is pivotallyjoined through link itl to arm 54, H12 by pivots S6, H13. As heretoforeindicated disks 86 are mounted in spaced relation on feed shaft 85through set screws Iii and turn with that shaft. Mounted beneath theratchet wheel 95 on standard 3 by means of bracket IBS is a retardingfinger or pawl 105 pivoted on pin It? on bracket 106 and spring pressedor otherwise urged into yielding engagement with wheel 95.

On the front projections of transverse members I'I, Il are mountedbearings 41, 4'I which carry the shaft d2, heretofore referred to.Carried by the shaft 48 and extending substantially the whole distancebetween bearings 41, 41 is a roller i8 having formed on its outersurface oppositely directed sets of helical ribs 50, 50 which terminatein a point of intersection 5I at substantially the center of the roller49.

Situated in front of the frame is a seat I I supported by arms I2, i2extending horizontally forward from the standards I, 2 at points belowthe bed plate. Extending down diagonally from the horizontal arms i2, I2to the standards l, 2 are braces i3, i3 which are joined both 'to thearms i2, l2 and the standards i, 2. Bridging the arms i2, I2 of the seatis a cloth guide 52, and positioned beneath the seat is a stand I4carrying a cloth guide 53. The stand has supporting sides I5, i5 with 'acover I4 over it. The guide rod bridges the sides at the inner end, andthe inner ends of the sides are preferably positioned between the angleirons of the base I@ of the frame.

The cloth M6 is carried in the roll H4 on shaft llt and is preferablypaid on of the roll onto the door where it then passes up under clothguides 53, 53 and then over roll "i9 which ordinarily rotates in acounterclockwise direction and acts as a spreader. The cloth then passesacross the work support or bed plate and throat plate iid, between thefeeding disks 86 and the spring iingers SS, and back to the floor.

The thread III is fed to the needles through openings in projection iIilon the cross member then down through the conventional tensioningdevices m9 which consist of spring pressed opposed plates that receivethe yarn and resist its movement. Then it passes down under thread guide45, which is a bar extending across the front of the machine andsupported on standards i, 2, and on through bore 38 and then to` theneedle 4i).

There may be many appropriate braces for the frame such as thatdesignated it,

In its operation the drive'shat 24 receives its power from source i9,which, viewed from the source of .power end, causes it to rotate in acounterclcckwise direction imparting a counterclockwise rotation toshaft 48, an oscillating movement to supplemental shaft 55, and anintermittent clockwise rotation to feed shaft 85 when viewed from thesame end.

The fabric or backing Ii is manually paid ofi' of roll lift bn to thefloor, is passed about guides :'13, 52 and over spreader de across thebed plate or work support into engagement with the teeth of disks et andbetween the disks 86 and the resilient fingers d@ that urge the fabricinto intimate, interlocking engagement with the disks 86 so that thusanchored the fabric HS is progressively moved across the bed plate ofthe machine, and onto the door on the other side.

The rotation of drive shaft 2d and in turn eccentrics 3l causes theneedle bar actuating rods 32 to reciprocate the needles 4c up and downthrough the fabric il. as it moves across the bed plate in a manner wellknown to those skilled in the art. .as the needles pass down through thefabric ile they carry with them the strands of yarn H6. Upon reachingthe lowermost positionof their stroke and again starting their upwardmovement, slack develops in the strands of yarn. The supplemental shaft55 then oscillates to swing the loopers toward the needles 40 and passtheir hooks 'I5 between the needles and their strands of yarn and catchthem to form loops. The cycle is again repeated and a sec;- ond loop isthrown on the hook so that as the needle is drawn up out of the fabricit is moved through the machine by the feeding disks 8S and fingers 89.The supplemental shaft 55 oscillates back in the opposite directionswinging the loopers back out of the planes of the'paths of the needleslid, whichl movement results in the cutters being swung about theirpivots II and the blade i2 being brought into cutting relation with thelouper hoclts 'i5 clipping the innermost loops to form piles. This'operation is repeated over and over again to forni rows oi stitches.

lt will be noted that the spreading roller 149 which acts on the clothbefore it reaches the needles d@ rotates the two sets of opposedcontinuous helical ribs which engage the cloth and tend to spreadit fromthe center towards either outer edge thus removing the wrinkles andholding it smooth and stretched out taut as it passes under the needles40. This :insuresv that the rows of stitches formed in the fabric willbe straight and uniform and prevents the possibility of clogging of thecloth in the machine and the possibility of tearing or injuring thereof.

It will also be understood that the presser foot may be adjusted towardsand away from the fabric by loosening the screws 33 and permitting thestraps 42 and the walls of their slots to move causes it to indes` withthose teeth and to intermittently rotate the ratchet wheel 95 and feedshaft B5, their movement being synchronized with the needles d `to takeplace when such needles'are up 'out of the fabric. The toothed disks d@being keyed to the shaft by means of set screws il? move with it. Theteeth on these disks being turned in the direction of their rotation andaway from the needles 40 and from the backward force of resistancecreated by the friction of the backing H6, anchor themselves in thecloth and move it through the machine. In order to insure close contactof the backing l or fabric H6 with the teeth of the disks 86 theresilient fingers 89 yieldably urge the fabric against the outerperiphery of these disks 86 and their tension may be adjusted byloosening the set screw, rotating the ring, and then tightening itagain. By yieldably holding the cloth or backing I I6 against thesurface of disks 86 over a substantial periphery thereof With the curledends of fingers 89 ample force is provided for moving it through themachine and any great positive backward forcewill not result in tearingyter pivoted thereon intermediate its ends and having its lower end 'l0joined to a fixed point, to impart a swinging movement to the cutter inthe opposite direction to that of the looper, there by bringing theminto cutting relation, and it should be pointed out that the throatplate 44 has the usual large and/r elongated needle slots therein tofacilitate the removal of the tufts after they are formed, as Well asthe fact that the openings in the body of the hook portion of the looperthrough which the screws 16 are enlarged permit some adjustment of thelooper with respect thereto and alter the cooperation and relation oflooper to cutter for changing the movement of uncut loops and the timeof severance in forming the piles. Of course, this may also becontrolled and altered to some extent by the adjustment of blade l2 inits socket by loosening screw 14 and moving it in the slot 13.

It will also be understood that applicants invention is not limited tothe use of a ratchet wheel andpawl for actuating the -feed mechanism butthat any other appropriate means for producing the intermittent motionmay also be em, ployed. Applicants have in mind particularly that anover-running clutch mechanism may be substituted for the ratchet wheeland pawl, which has actually been tried andfproven to be successful inone of applicants machines, and is probably preferable to the ratchetmechanism disclosed in the preferred embodiment of applicants inventionby the drawings herein,

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A multiple needle tufting machine of the character describedcomprising work feed means for progressively moving a fabric through themachine including'a series of toothed disks over which the fabric istrained, yeldable fingers for pressing the fabric into grippingengagement with the teeth of said disks, a series of reciproeatingneedles for passing strands of yarn down through the fabric to formloops, means positioned beneath the fabric to catch and hold the loops,and means for cooperation with the loop holding means to sever the loopsand form tufts.

2. A multiple needle tufting machine of the character describedcomprising Work feed means for progressively moving a fabric through themachine including a. series of disks having ratchet teeth on theirperipheries over which the fabric is trained, spring fingers partiallysurrounding the peripheries of said disks adapted to yieldably hold thefabric in gripping engagement with the teeth of the disks, a series ofreciprocating needles for passing strands of yarn down through thefabric to form loops, means positioned beneath the fabric to catch andhold the loops and means for cooperation with the loop holding means tosever the loops and form tufts.

JOE C. COBBLE. GEORGE B. MUSE.

